The Cerro Torre enigma

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Leo Dickinson
1978
UK
Color
26 min

In 1959 Italian climber Cesare Maestri claimed to have scaled the Patagonian peak of Cerro Torre with Austrian Toni Egger. The claim has been disputed in some quarters ever since. Skepticism toward Maestri's 1959 account mounted as it became evident how difficult the alleged route is even with the advances in technique made through the first decade of the next century. In the documentary, Maestri defends his version of the story and comments on the 1970 attempts by the compressor route. Jim Donini speaks about the clues he found on the 1959 route while climbing Torre Egger in 1976. The film also follows the successful ascent made in 1974 by the 'Ragni di Lecco' climbers.